Space reservation system



Feb. 20, 1951 D. P. BAsU ET AL SPACE RESERVATION SYSTEM 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 4, 1948 yrwevvhyns ,Del a P. 23:35u

Feb. 20 1951 D. P. BAsu ET A1. 2,542,890

SPACE RESERVATION SYSTEM Filed NOV. 4, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 csf/7 BS E17 g- 1 'if i- @UNAN- DeZ P Basu ETI- 4- Jym Mame Patented Feb. 20, 1951 vUNITED i? OFFICE Application'v November 4, 1948, Serial No.` 585324 In: India- November 6,- 1947 This invention relates toI devices. for.` `quickly indicating available seats or accommodations and for registering or cancelling reservations` on] any predetermined air ilight, train service; theatrical showgypassenger boat sailngfl hotel rooml accommodation andfthelike The indication may be made at reservation panels,` describedv hereafter in` detail. or may be made at separate booking centres Where bookin'g and cancellation, may be carried out. Ina multiple system?, apl'uralit'y of indlcationpanels may be used,y all" these panels 4being electrically connected to asing-le central -reservation control panelv at which all the more intricate relay equipment is located. To simplify the description herein, thevarious types of travel will be referred' tol-r as flights even though,- as indicated above, this` system is equall'yapplicable to train service; passenger boat sailings, and thel like'. y

`An object of thisv invention is to provide a device'which will at a moments notice indicate the number" of vseats available' for" any` predetermined flight, WithoutA the necessity of; recourse to telephonic enquiry to a central. reservationcontrol. Another object of this invention is' to provide a" reservation` panel uponl whichn may bei recorded a reservation or cancellation. of" accommodation on a flight at some 'future'date.

`A further object of this invention isftoj pro vide afreservation panel upon" which'bookings or' cancellationsof accommodation may be made by' simply dialling the appropriate nuniber.

A'still' further object'of this-invention is to provide protective means; wherebyH two" or more reservation centresv cannot 4simultaneously book la reservation on the same flightat the Sametime, a.. busy or engage'd"`si'gnal being transmitted tothe second reservation panelor panels" when the second' operator attempts to. book. 0r .cancel va reservation on a particular night alreadyengaged the.. rstoperator; fAfurther object of thisinvention is.' to pro' vide a device Wher'eby'the other" reservationipanels can register bookings'or cancellation'sonany other flight desired.provided. ,there`r is no busy or engagedn signal for the flight concerned, even though a priorbook'ing, or" cancellation is being carried"` out" by.' anotherreservation' panel on another air flightl A still further featurey ofi' this' invention is to provide an arrangement whereby, although reg.- istration" isv ineffective at' other reservationpam els on a.y particular flight alreadyengaged by a reservation panel, yet the other panelsmaystill observe the' state of availability" of" seats'v for the to.l either"book` or c ancel position of the switch.

for'that flight.

Ally di?"theffo'regoingw and. still; further objects "and advantagesfofth e" invention will; become. ap-l parent from a study ol". theiollowingz. specification, takenfin. conjur .ctionwiththe accompanyingrdifa'wings, .whereii likexcharactersof reference indicate` 'correspondir' .f parts. throughout the sevze eraliviews'andwherei:l:

y Fig. lisfa planview ofthe. reservation indicator panel: designed` tofr n erelyindi'cate. the. number ofcseatszavailable;

Fig-i 2 is a plan'` vie` v ofa reservation panels d= signed -tof book or cancel reservatitn'is` of seats". This panelff will` alsori: idica'te thefnumberfofiseats available-,f .butlinnthis regard is not as convenient to- `operate-as*` is fthep: |.nel\.shown in Figi. 1;

Fig.v 3f.' isy aplan viv' of* a;k panel which combines the'fea.tureslof:the:` p'a nels'lsliown in Figs. 1 and 2 however for purposes of. simplicatiomonlyfthe portion- 0E the panel? relating; 170- igihtSD" and' 1E isrshown; ami.:` 1

Fig.v 4"-is a: schmati c' diagrar'nof'thel wiring for the combinationpane lvShoWnfinfFi'g. 3;

In' order' to' "more ea ;il`y comprehendftliel follow ing description hereir it would?` be wellitofoutline the nonie'n'clatu'rey use dthroughout (at)l The "bo'oking and cancellation ycentres arereferred'to as X,` T. and Ze (19)r The' flights r' o' various destinations regardiessl offy date: of nia rht; "arrefdesiem-.tredy asrA; B, C, Dfand ELv '(ci Alb componenti associated with?` awgiven flightwill' bear ay leiter correspondingl tothat flight, and if`als0` assoi :iatedwithi agivenxdatewill bear a numeral corresponding tothatdate;v Thus, a* relay asso'ciatedi wi lliffli'ghty for th" "16th. of the montli'is-d'e'sgnat ad a'srElB. l Furthermore, a sectio'n of that relay? devotedV to abcircuittassoL ciated with onefof'thebooking and' cancellation 'centressuchas Y` foi example; would.y be designated `as El 6g. f

` (d) Generallyythe indicia-assigned to aconi' ponent bear a' relation'sliipy to` its`= naine: For example; D"I refersl tc' dial; R refers! to` rotary switch; IE refers-toit di'ca'to'r lamp; BS'` refers to booking solenoid? a1 d" s'o on.-

Referrin'g iirst to'fFigs.` 1- and 2', nights tod'esf tinationsrA, B; C', Dal 1d farefarrangedi infli'ori zontal rows withfeith er a puslif button or? a V3- position-rotaryswitch for eachl forward booking date-un to` ,1"5y clays in` advance. Inv other Words; for' eaclrii'gl't; either 15"v pushbuttons or`15l3`- combined in one panel.

position rotary switches are arranged in a horizontal row, each corresponding to a calendar date in the future schedule of that particular night. A horizontal row below the flight E column is composed of a series of short posts having removable caps which bear numerals corresponding to the particular date. With the equipment provided having booking relays with 1-5 positions, it is possible to book as far ahead as 15 days.

ybe seen that if the present date of booking is assumed to be the th of the month, the numbered caps are arranged in numerical sequence from that date towards the righthand side of the control panel and then carry on from the lefthand side of the control panel up to the present date. The dotted lines 4E drawn between the push buttons and switches for the 19th and the 5th, as in Figs. l and 2, represent the imaginary division across the panel between the beginnings and the ends of the booking dates for the nve nights.

The dial D shown in Fig. -2`operates a pair of make and brea contacts which close and open a number of times as determined by the number dialled; dials of this type are well known in the art. Apulsating electrical current results and is used to operate the step-by-step relays as will be subsequently described in detail.

Fig'. 3 illustrates'a device combining the features of the devices shown in Figs. 1 and'2, and wherein for the nve nights A, B, C, D and E, both the push buttons of Fig; l and the 3position rotary switches of Fig.' 2 along with the indicating lamps of both Fig. l and Fig. 2 have been It will'be appreciated that the drawings would become very involved if all switches and all push buttons for all nights were shown, and so for the sake of simplicity, only flights D and E are shown, it being understood that similar rows of switches and push buttons for the remaining flights A, Band C exist above those shown in the drawings. The schematic diagram shown in Fig. 4 is drawn to represent only a small -portion of the electrical circuit which would be requisite for the nve nights and for the days. In fact, since each flight is independent, only one (night E), is described, and since all dates also operate in the same manner, only two (thef16th and the 17th of the month), are shown. On the other hand, in order to illustrate how operations may be automatically carried out by a plurality of booking centres, two centres Y and Z are shown, the actual electrical equipment provided at these centres being enclosed in the drawings by a dotted line; all other equipment consists either of interconnecting multiple conductor cables, or ofthe equipment at the central office.

In the preferred arrangement, registration of electrical impulses provided by the make-andbreak contacts operated by the dial D, said im- It Will cellation solenoid and thereupon moves the` wiper in the opposite direction to thereby effect an addition. For example, if the wiper arm on contact 6, the counter thereby indicating six seats available, one booking impulse wouldmove the wiper to position 5, thereby showing.l that nve seats now remain, whereas if it were a cancellation, the wiper would move to contact- 7, thereby indicating that seven seats are now available. It should be noted that each pair of solenoids through their ratchet and pawl mech- 4anisms rotate a shaft having a plurality of wiper yeo pulses denoting booking or cancellation, kare made on a step-by-step telephone-type rotary switch the mechanism of which has been modified so that two electrical solenoids actuate the rotary contacts through ratchet and pawl arrangements, the one solenoid when energized causing a, rotation in one direction, and the second solenoid when energized causing a rotation in the opposite direction. For purposes of this invention, one solenoid in each pair is called the booking solenoid and the other solenoid is called the cancellation solenoid. For booking the effect of the motion of the solenoid is to move the rotary wipers in a subtractive direction, whereas a "cancellation" actuates the cancontacts which engage different banks of stator contacts, the number of banks of rotary and nxed contacts being equal to the number of booking and cancellation centres, plus an additional bank which operates as a common circuit for all the booking and cancellation centres.

That portion of the wiring of the device insofar as it relates to the indication of the number of seats available may best be described by taking as an example an operation at centre Y: I

OnY an enquiry by a prospective passenger as to the number of seats available for night E on the 16th of the month, the operatorat centre Y depresses the push button Il corresponding to night E at date I6 (see Fig. 3), and receives an indication on the lamp indicator field designated generally as I3, of the number of seats available by the lighting up of the appropriate indicating lamp., Referring to Fig. 4, it may be seen that a circuit is completed from the positive terminal of battery |611 through the closed contact ily of the push button when depressed, to terminal ily, then to rotary wiper 5 on the step-by-step relay EIB, across to contact 2E|6 of the common statorv contact bank. (This counter is assumed to indicate two seats available, the wiper arm being on position 2). The circuit then continues to binder post I8, thence to binder post |931, through indicator lamp ILZy, terminal 20g of the stator contact bank Ely of relay E16 corresponding to booking position Y, thence to wiper arm 1y (since this arm is also on position 2. as in the case of rotary arm 5) and from there tothe negative terminal of the battery |611 there. bycompleting the circuit; the glowing of indicator lamp ILZy indicates that two seats are available.k y

Similarly if the operator at booking centreZ wished to ascertain the number of seats available forthe same night E16, he would depress the noted that this operation could even be effected simultaneously with the same operation at position Y, or at any other position. More specically, the circuit is as follows: from the positive terminal of the battery |62 through closed contact Ilz, then `to binder post Ile, rotary wiper 5, contact 2El6 of the common stator contact bank, terminal I3, terminal |92, indicator lamp IL2e, terminal 20e, wiper arm le, and nnally to the negative terminal of the battery Ille.`

Since similar paths are followed for indication of reservations of any of the other nights at these two booking centres and at all other booking" centres, no further description of this feature of the circuit need be made.

In the event that the prospective passenger desired a reservation to be made and recorded, the operation is somewhat more involved.

For each of the nve nights A, B, C, D andy E, there is provided afbankof 15 4-pole 3positiori nected through an electrical circuit to the relay, and selector means at the local stations to selectively condition the relay for movement of the switches in one direction or in the opposite direction when an impulse is applied to the relay.

2.A signalling system for storing and indieating information submitted from a plurality of local stations, comprising a master station, a relay in the master station having a component movable step by step when impulses of electrical power are applied to the relay, an indicator connected to the movable component of the relay to indicate information resulting from the position of the said movable component, electrical impulse producing devices at the local stations each oi the said devices being connected through a main electrical circuit to the relay, and selector means at therlocal stations to selectively condition the relay for movement of the movable component in one direction or in the opposite direction when impulses are applied to the relay, a solenoid in each main circuit the said solenoids being energized when the selector means in the circuit is setat relay 'condition- Ving position, normally closed switches in each circuit openable respectively by the energized solenoids of the other circuits, a warning means at each local station conditionable to be energized when the selector means at any` other station has been set at relay conditioning posithe corresponding main circuit for the particu,-

lar local station.

3. A signalling system for storing and separately indicating at a plurality of local stations vinformation pertaining to a plurality of items submitted from the local stations each item having a number of sub-items arranged in numerical order, comprising a master station, a set of switches in the master station for each local station, each set including a switch for each item,

the switches for the same items in the various sets being arranged in groups for operation in unison, each switch having a plurality of circuit-making positions, relays in the master station for moving each group of switches, each relay including an additive solenoid and a subtractive solenoid, the additive solenoid being adapted to actuate the relay to move the group of switches connected thereto from one circuit-making position to the next adjacentY circuit-making position in an additive direction for each impulse of electrical power applied to the solenoid, and the subtractive solenoid being adapted to actuate the said relay to move the said group of switches connected thereto from one circuit-making position to the next adjacent circuit-making position in a subtractive direction for each impulse of electrical power applied to the solenoid, an annunciator at each local station including a plurality of indicators arranged in a numerical series, each indicator being adapted, when its annunciator is connected through circuits to any switch of the set for the local station of such annunciator, to

lbe connected to a numerically corresponding circuit-making position in the connected switch to indicate to what position the group of switches moved, an electrical impulse producing device at each of the local stations, each of the said devices being adapted to be selectively connected through an electrical circuit to either solenoid of any of the relays, and selectors at the local stations for each switch of the set, each selector including a, normally open 3-posltion switch selectively adjustable to connect the electrical Aimpulse producing device to the additive and to the subtractive solenoids of the relay for the group of switches to which the switch of the set belongs and also including a switch to connect the annunciator through circuits to a desired switch of the set in the master station.

4. A signaling system for storing andfseparately indicating at a plurality of local stations information pertaining to a plurality of items submitted from the local stations, each item having a number of sub-items arranged in numerical order, comprising a imaster station; a set of switches in the master station for each local station; each set including a switch for each item, the switches for the same items in the various sets being arranged in groups for operation in unison, and each switch having a plurality of circuit-making positions; relays in the master station for moving each group of switches, each relay including an additive solenoid and a subtractive solenoid, the additive solenoid being adapted to actuate the relay to move the group of switches connected thereto from one circuit-making position to the next adjacent circuit-making position in an additive direction for each impulse of electrical power applied to the solenoid, and the subtractive solenoid being adapted to actuate the said relay to move the said group of switches connected thereto from one circuit-making position to the next adjacent circuit-making position in a subtractive direction for each impulse of electrical power applied to the solenoid; an annunciator at each local station including a plurality of indicators arranged in a numerical series, eachy indicator being adapted, when its annunciator is connected through circuits to any switch of the set for the local station of such annunciator, to be connected to a numerically corresponding circuit-making position in the connected switch to indicate to what position the group of switches to which the connected switch belongs has been moved; an electrical impulse producing device at each of the local stations, each of the said devices being adapted to be selectively connected through an electrical circuit to either solenoid of any of the relays; selectors at the local station for each switch of the set, each selector including a normally open 3-position switch selectively ad'- justable to connect the electrical impulse producing device to the additive and to the subtractive solenoid of the relay for the group of switches to which the switch of the set belongs and also including a switch to connect the annunciator through circuits to a desired switchv of the set in the master station; and lock-out relay-s for each selector, the lockout relay for any'selector in a local station including a lock-out solenoid normally energizable through a power circuit when the 3-position switch of such selector has been adjusted to connecting position, normally open switches in the circuits from the electrical impulse producing devices in such local station to the solenoids of the relay for the group of switches at the master station to which belongs the switch in the master station corto which the connected switch-belongsuhas been responding to such selector. the said-normally open switch` being closed by the lock-out sole-` noid when the said lockout solenoid is energized, and normally closed switches in the circuits for the lock-out relays of the selectors in the other local stations for the switches in the mastr station belonging to the aforesaid group, the said normally closed switches being opened by the lock-out solenoid when it is energized.

5. A signalling system for storing and separately indicating at a plurality of local stations information pertaining to a plurality of items submitted from the local stations, each item having a numknr of sub-items arranged in numerical order, comprising a master station; a set of switches in the master station for each local sta-k tion, each set including a switch for each item, the switches for the same items in the various sets being arranged in groups for operation in unison, each switch having a plurality of circuit-making positions; relays in the master station for moving each group of switches, each relay including an additive solenoid and a subtractive solenoid, the additive solenoid being adapted to actuate the relay to move the group of switches connected thereto from one circuitmaking position to the next adjacent circuitmaking position in an additive direction for each impulse of electrical power applied to the solenoid, and the subtractive solenoid being adapted to actuate the said relay to move the said group of switches connected thereto from one circuit-making position to the next adjacent circuit-making position in a subtractive direction for each impulse of electrical power applied to the solenoid; an annunciator at each local station including a plurality of indicators arranged in a numerical series, each indicator being adapted, when its annunciator is connected through circuits to any switch of the set for the local station of such annunciator, to be connected to a numerically corresponding circuit-making position in the connected switch to indicate to what position the group of switches to which the connected switch belongs has been moved;

an electrical impulse producing device at each of the local stations, each of the said devices being adapted to be selectively connected through an electrical circuit to either solenoid of any of the relays; selectors at the local stations for each switch of the set. each selector including a no1'- mally open 3-position switch selectively adjustable to connect the electrical impulse producing device to the additive arid to the subtraetive solenoid of the relay for the group of switches to which the switch of the set belongs and also including a switch to connect the annunciator through circuits to a desired switch of the set in the master station; lock-out relays for each selector, the lock-o1 lt relay for any selector in a local station including a lock-out solenoid normally energiaable through a power circuit when the 3-position switch of such selector has been adjusted to cc nnecting position, normally open switches in thi circuits from the electrical impulse producing cevices in such local station to the solenoids of the relay for the group of switches at the mas :er station to which belongs the switch in the ma ster station corresponding to such selector, the sald normally open switch being closed by the lock-out solenoid when the said lock-out solenoii is energized, andnormally closed switches in tie circuits for the lock-out relays of the selectors in the other local stations ier the switches in the master station belonging to the aforesaid group, the said normally closed switches being open ed by the lock-out solenoid when it is energized; and a warning means ateach local station, the warning means at a local` station being effective when the 3--position switch of any selector at su :h local station for a switch at the master station is adjusted to connecting position if the Jl-position switch of the selector at any other local :tation for a switch at the master station of tle same group as the firstmentioned switch a'y the master station is alix ady adjusted to connecting position, the warninglmeans at each si ation comprising a warning device, a normally open warning switch for each selector, each norma ly open warning switch being connected through secondary power circuits REFER] lNCES CITED The following refe; 'ences are of record in the le of this patent:

` UNITED S' TATES PATENTS Number Nar 1e Date 1,911,949 Gould May 30, 1933 1,969,369 Haseltcn et al Aug. 7, 1934 1,986,972 Hersheir Jan. 8, 1935 2,224,244 Hicks Dec. l0, 1940 2,432,324 May Dec 9, 1947 2,446,037 Ammar n et al July 27, 1948 

